Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of his Department's ODA-funded projects are listed on the Department for International Development's Development Tracker website.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
BEIS is committed to meeting the Government’s target for transparency and to score ‘good’ or ‘very good’ on the Publish What You Fund aid transparency index.
29 of the Department’s 30 International Climate Finance programmes are listed on the Development Tracker website. This represents 96% of the Department’s International Climate Finance programmes, covering 99% of BEIS International Climate Finance expenditure from 2010/11 to the end of 2017/18.
At present BEIS does not publish detail of its research and innovation (R&I) spend on the Development Tracker website. However, much of the detail is published on the Gateway to Research website, which is run by UK Research and Innovation. BEIS is currently implementing a technical solution to be able to fully publish details of its R&I expenditure to the International Aid Transparency Index, which can be automatically accessed by the Development Tracker.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of his Department's ODA-funded projects are listed on the Department for International Development's Development Tracker website.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We list nearly all of our ODA-funded programmes on gov.uk and on the Department for International Development's Development Tracker website. Information on a small number of policy programmes is not in the public domain due to the need to protect national security and the safety and security of beneficiaries, partners or partner governments.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to further promote better employee engagement and workforce relations in response to the Taylor review of modern working practices.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
In February 2018, the Government consulted on workforce and employee engagement as part of preparing its response to the Taylor review of modern working practices. We are grateful to the stakeholders who have taken time to comment. We are considering those comments and will be publishing our response in due course.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government response entitled Good work: a response to the Taylor Review of modern working practices, published on 7 February 2018, what steps he is taking to promote quality work through sector deals.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Developing better jobs for everyone in the British economy is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. We are proud to be the first Government to have taken responsibility for both quality and quantity of work, and are working to promote good work across the UK. We will be setting out our next steps for measuring and improving the quality of work in due course.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government response entitled Good work: a response to the Taylor Review of modern working practices, published on 7 February 2018, when the first assessment of the quality of work in the UK is planned to be published.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Developing better jobs for everyone in the British economy is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. We are proud to be the first Government to have taken responsibility for both quality and quantity of work, and are working to promote good work across the UK. We will be setting out our next steps for measuring and improving the quality of work in due course.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Low Pay Commission will publish the response to its consultation on (a) the effect of a higher minimum wage for non-guaranteed hours in a contract and (b) alternative means for tackling one sided flexibility.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Low Pay Commission’s consultation, on the effect of a higher minimum wage for non-guaranteed hours in a contract and alternative means for tackling one-sided flexibility, launched in March.
The Low Pay Commission will publish their report, containing the findings from this consultation, in due course.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on consolidating guidance on legislation to protect people who are pregnant or on maternity leave as recommended by the Taylor review of modern working practices.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Last year, Acas published new comprehensive guidance on pregnancy and maternity discrimination and workplace rights and obligations.
This summer we have reviewed the GOV.UK guidance material on the protections for people who are pregnant or on maternity leave and we are now updating and improving signposting.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what provision is made on the Parliamentary estate to (a) provide private spaces for expressing milk or feeding and (b) otherwise support breastfeeding mothers on their return to work.
Answered by Tom Brake
The House of Commons provides private spaces for expressing milk or feeding in two publicly accessible areas in the Palace of Westminster. The baby care room is located on the Upper Committee Corridor and the Health and Wellbeing space is off the Lower Waiting Hall; the Lower Waiting Hall space is available with agreement from the practice nurse if it is not being used for a medical emergency.
In addition, Commons passholders may access the first aid rooms for expressing milk or feeding by contacting the reception teams in the following buildings:
• Portcullis House
• 1 Parliament Street
• Richmond House
• Norman Shaw South
Tothill Street has a baby care room on the 5th floor.
For House of Commons and Parliamentary Digital Service staff, line managers are expected to regularly monitor the working arrangements of an expectant mother or new parent both throughout pregnancy and if the member of staff returns to work within six months after the birth or while feeding.
Parents of young children returning to work may make a request for flexible working on either a temporary or permanent basis. Examples of flexible working include part-time working and working from home.
The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can provide practical advice and guidance as well as counselling and support on a broad range of issues including family issues and childcare support. From 1 November employees of the House of Commons, PDS and House of Lords, have been able to access this service alongside Members of both Houses and their staff.
Further support to families is also available via "My Family Care" which provides a range of practical tools and resources to support parents. The House also provides a workplace nursery and users of the House of Commons nursery also have access to the expressing and feeding facilities in the nursery based in 1 Parliament Street.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in producing a unified framework of employability skills as agreed to in the Government’s response to the Taylor review of modern working practices.
Answered by Anne Milton
We have developed guidance for T level panels, including an employability skills framework, to ensure a consistent approach to integrating employability skills in T levels. As part of the government response to the Taylor review, we have committed to publish the guidance in due course. Through this, a framework will be made openly available for other organisations (such as employers and higher education providers, where successful frameworks are already in use) to use if they wish.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the human rights due diligence of the businesses that his Department's Prosperity Fund supports.
Answered by David Lidington
Promotion of human rights remains a fundamental objective of UK foreign policy, and we remain committed to universal human rights – it is the right thing to do. The Prosperity Fund is committed to ensuring that safeguarding and modern slavery considerations are consistent with wider ODA policy and practice across government led by DFID. A Prosperity Fund Commercial Framework, managed by the FCO, has recently been put in place to support the commercial delivery of major Prosperity Fund programmes. This incorporates a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as safeguarding, social responsibility, human rights and ethical behaviour. In addition, implementing departments are actively working to align due diligence processes to ensure adequate assessment of potential partners’ ability to apply safeguards in their work, in particular to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and abuse.